Improvement in automatic attachments for key-board musical instruments



2 Sheets-Sheet 1.

J. W. CHAMBERS. Automatic Attachments for Keyboard Music-a1 Instruments.-

No. 218,663. Patented Aug. 19,1879.

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J. W. CHAMBERS. Automatic Attachments for Keyboard Musical Instruments.

No. 218,663. Patented Aug. 19,1879.

\Xmmswa Tkwmkmx E /VM UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

J. WRIGHT CHAMBERS, OF BALTIMORE, MARYLAND. I

lMPRO /EMENT IN AUTOMATIC ATTACHMENTS FOR KEY-BOARD MUSICAL INSTRUMENTS.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 218,663, dated August 19, 1879; application filed December 14, 187

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, J. WRIGHT CHAMBERS, of the city of Baltimore, county of Baltimore, State of lllaryland, have invented a new and useful Automatic Organ-Player, of which the following is a full, true, and exact description, reference being had to the aceompanyin g drawings.

The object of my invention is to produce an apparatus for automatically playing an organ, piano, or similar musical instruments without requiring the intervention of the intelligence of the player in discriminating the notes.

Such apparatuses have before now been made operating either by electricity or by perforated paper, such perforations serving as valves for the admission or emission of the sound-producin g currents of air.

The object of this invention is to accomplish a similar result by directly opening the valves of the organ by means of positive motion con trolled by the operator or by actuating mech' anism, and in the form shown it is applicable to the ordinary keyboard, and can be at tached to or detached from such key-board.

By means of this apparatus I directly open the valves of the organ by mechanism directly connected with the positive motion of the machine, which insures greater certaintyof opera tion and greater simplicity of action than has ever before been possible.

I accomplish this result by the use of a vibrating finger-bar provided with a number of automatic lingers, which are controlled by a continuous apron of perforated paper, which allows the fingers to act when they are opposite the perforations, but otherwise prevents them from acting on the keys of the instrument.

My apparatus will be readily understood from the z'rccompanying drawings, in which Figure l represents a perspective elevation, and Fig. 2 a cross-section, showing the parts in detail.

Similar letters refer to similar parts.

A represents the base-board of the apparatus, which is made about the same length as the key-board of the instrument to be operated by it, and is arranged with suitable connections for attaching it to and removing it from said keyboard.

Passing through such board are a number of clothed pins or pitmen, 0, provided with cloth dampers G l. These pitmen may be of ditlerent lengths to correspond with the heights of the black and white keys of the in strument, their upper ends being on the same level when the instrument-keys are raised.

Supported on the base-board A by means of brackets 15 is the vibrating fingerba-r B, which is supported in slots in the brackets by means of journal-pins It. It is elevated to its limit of upward vibration by the spring S, which acts against a pivoted hook. Its limit of upward vibration is determined by a lug or projection, K, provided with a damper, j, which brings up against an adjustable set-screw, L. Its lower edge is provided with a metallic wearing-surface, o.

The finger-bar B is vibrated by the leverM, controlled by the handle H; but other mechanical or automatic means of vibration could be readily adapted.

Pivoted in the vibrating finger-bar Bare the automatic fingers I, provided with project in g points p, which fingers are pivoted at m, and are so arranged that gravity tends to throw the points p forward and out of the iiir ger-bar. These points are provided with an angle or incline on their upper surfaces. The downward motion of the fingers is arrested by adamper. (Shown in Fig. 2.)

These fingers Z are separately arranged in slots, 0', cut in the finger-bar, and are so arranged that when the iinger-bar B is depressed the points p will bring up against the tops of the pitmen 0, thereby depressing said pitmen and actuating the notes. Between the upper ends of the pit-men and the points p of the lingers l is interposed the cloth], for the purpose of still further deadening the impact between said points and the pitmen. At the opposite side of the base-board A is the roller 1%, resting, by means of pins 1), on blocks or slides a. This roller is withdrawn from the finger-bar by links 12-, fast to the bar g, which is withdrawn by a spring, .9, which arrangement tends to withdraw said roller without depressing it.

Surrounding the finger-bar B and the roller 1% is an endless apron, l which may be made of paper or other convenient material. This paper is divided transversely by anumber of folds or creases, w, which are equidistant from than the movement of the edge 0 of the fin-' ger-bar. The position of the paper on the roller and finger-baris determined by two adjustable guides,V, adjustable by slotted plates and set-screws, as shown. Within these guides are the spring-clutches d, controlled by the springs e, which clutches allow the movement of the paper in one direction, but prevent its return movement. In adjusting the paper these clutches may be controlled by the pins 2', projecting through the guides V.

By vibrating the finger-bar B it will be seen that at each vibration the corner 1;, which is the only sharp corner in contact with the paper, will engage with a new crease in the paper, and thereby advance the paper around the roller the distance between each crease and the next one, which in the present apparatus should be perhaps a quarter of an inch. On the elevation of the finger-bar B by the spring S it will engage with a new crease, and the paper will therefore be advanced correspondingly equal and regular distances.

' Along the parallelograms of paper formed by the parallel creases w are the holes or perforations h. These perforations are arranged in lines around the apron corresponding to the fingers, and it will be clearly seen that whenever one of the perforations h is opposite a finger, such finger will, by its own weight, be pressed forward so that its point p will pro ject through the paper, as is clearly shown in Fig. 1, and when the finger-bar is depressed,

whatever fingers are projecting through it will operate corresponding keys below.

The upward movement of the finger-bar B causes the paper to act against the inclined upper surfaces of the points 10, and causes them to retire into the slots 7' until they are again allowed to project by the succecdin g perforation in the line. If paper be used, strong manila is preferable; but whatever material is used it must be strong enough to prevent cutting by the points 10.

The operation of the apparatus can now be placed away from the performer and toward the keys. The performer operates the handle H. At each depression of the finger-bar B one or more notes are depressed, depending upon the correspondence of the perforations with the fingersbeneath. By providing different sheets of paper with proper perforations, any number of tunes can thus be automatically performed. 7

It is obvious that this mechanism is susceptible of various modifications without interfering with the principle.

What I claim as my invention, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is.

1. An automatic attachment for musical instruments, provided with a vibrating fingerbar containing a series of key-moving fingers,

and a perforated sheet allowing the operation of the key-moving fingers upon apparatus on the other side of said sheet through the vibration of said finger-bar, substantially as described.

2. In an automatic attachment for musical instruments, a vibrating finger-bar provided with a series of fingers arranged to operate the keys of a musical instrument, substantially as described. I 4

3. In an automatic attachment for musical instruments, a sheet or apron of paper provided with a series of transverse parallel creases and perforations, substantially as described.

4. In an automatic attachment for musical instruments, the combination of an endless apron of creased perforated paper with a vibrating bar and automatic fingers, said vibrating bar, engaging with the transverse parallel creases for the purpose of advancing the sheet, substantially as described.

5. In combination with avibrat-ing finger-bar for the purpose of depressing the keys in a musical instrument, a series of automatic fingers operated by gravity for the purpose of operating said keys, substantially as described,

6. In combination with the keys of a musical instrument, a vibrating apparatus directly connected with means for depressing such keys, and arranged to depress them, an endless apron of perforated paper or equivalent material, the means of advancing said apron a definite distance at each vibration of the apparatus, and the means of preventing its reverse movement, all substantially as specified.

7. In an automatic attachment for musical instruments, the combination of a series of pins or pitmen acting against the keys of a musical apparatus, and a vibrating reciprocating apparatus for operating directly said pins and depressing the keys, substantially as described.

8. In an automatic attachmentfor musical instruments, a reciprocating finger-bar provided with automatic key-opening fingers, and operated in one direction by a handle and in the other by a spring, substantially as described.

9. In an automatic attachment for musical instruments, the endless apron P, moved in one direction by a reciprocating finger-bar, and prevented from returning by means of a clamping apparatus, d, which may be withdrawn from the paper by means of a pin, 1', or equivalent mechanism, in order to allow of the proper adjustment of the paper, substantially as described.

10. In an automatic attachment for musical instruments, the combination of an automatic 7 finger-bar, B, provided with fingers p, operating the pitmcn 0, and endless apron P, passing around the roller R and finger-bar B, substantially as described.

11. In an automatic attachment for musical instruments, a reciprocating finger-bar provided with a n'lctallic corner or Wearing-surface, for the purpose of advancin a perforated sheet, substantially as described.

12. in an automatic attachment for musical instruments, a series of automatic fingers pivoted in a reciprocating fingerbar, and provided with points or surfaces adapted to operate the notes of said instrument, substantially as described.

13. In an automatic attachment for musical instruments provided with an endless apron containing perforations determining the notes to be operated, two removable rods or bars for sustaining said sheet, one of them being provided With an automatic Withdrawing apparatus for keeping the apron extended, and the other combined with devices for vibrating it to move forward the said apron, substantially as described.

J. Y VRIGHT CHAMBERS.

Witnesses:

L. K. FULLER, W. H. OHILDs. 

